[Maghrebia] The six Persian Gulf states on Monday (March 7th) called for a no-fly zone over Libya, AFP reported. "The Gulf Co-operation Council [GCC] demands that the UN Security Council take all necessary measures to protect civilians, including enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya," the bloc said in a statement.
"We call on the international community, especially the UN Security Council, to face their responsibilities in helping the dear people," United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan said at an emergency GCC ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi. GCC states Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Soddy Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reached their decision after the Libyan regime "totally refused to allow aid" to reach civilians.
Also Monday, NATO stepped up aerial surveillance. "The decision was made to indeed increase the surveillance of the NATO-AWACS capability to make it 24/7, to have a better picture of what's really going on," US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder said. |